This invention concerns a process for the differentiation of particles (especially cells), belonging to at least two groups of particles in a medium, which can rotate around an axis of rotation parallel to the axis of rotation of a rotating electrical field.
It is known from Z. Naturforsch. 37 c, 908-915 (1982), "Rotating-Field-Induced Rotation and Measurement of the Membrane Capacitance of Single Mesophyll Cells of Avena sativa", W. M. Arnold and U. Zimmermann, that individual cells, protoplasts in this case, can be brought into rotation in a rotating electrical field which is produced, for example, by four electrodes displaced by 90.degree. from one another. It is also known that individual cells of a specific species of cells can be placed in maximum rotational speed at a specific frequency of the rotating field (the so-called characteristic frequency).
When using the known process, cells, for which different characteristic rotational frequencies are determined for the particular maximum rotational speed, can be differentiated from one another by adjusting the frequency of the rotating field to the characteristic frequency for one group of cells. The different cells can then be differentiated from one another by their different rotational speed. However, with this procedure in a specific case, the differentiation on the basis of the different rotational speed can be truly difficult, so that only a trained eye is able to recognize the difference.
It is therefore a principal object of the present invention to provide a process for facilitating the differentiation of particles on the basis of their rotational behavior for an operator.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a process for the differentiation of particles of a nonbiological nature.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a device for facilitating the differentiation of particles on the basis of the rotational behavior.